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World Cup

Following the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Crew welcomes Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis back to Columbus for tonight’s match against Sporting KC. Many fans in Columbus watched the Costa Rican duo during the tournament, as well as United States Men’s National Team players Graham Zusi and Matt Besler from Sporting KC.

Here are a few numbers and notes to know following the monthlong battle of countries on the world’s stage…

- For comparison, here are the average ratings for several other recent national sporting events: Monday Night Football for the 2013 NFL season (9.6), the 2013 World Series (8.9), the 2014 Stanley Cup Final (2.8) and the 2014 NBA Finals (9.3).

Social Media

- 220 million Facebook users have combined for over one billion interactions on the site since it started. It's the largest event, sports or otherwise, in Facebook history.

- With two weeks remaining in the tournament, the World Cup generated 300 million tweets, doubling the entire London Olympics.

- The USA hashflag was the most tweeted of any nation's.

Digital

- Americans made up a full 20% of all the traffic to the FIFA official apps and Web sites. Over the tournament, 36.7 million unique visitors from the United States have visited FIFA.com or the FIFA app. That's about 11.28% of the U.S. population.

Ticketing

- Americans bought more World Cup game tickets than any other country, behind host country Brazil (also happened in 2010 with USA, second behind host South Africa).

The U.S. Men's National Team's 2-0 win over Mexico at Crew Stadium last September is featured prominently in ESPN's most recent promo for the network's 2014 FIFA World Cup coverage. "I Believe" focuses on the American Outlaws supporters group and the atmosphere created by more than 9,000 organized supporters groups across 27 sections of Crew Stadium.

The U.S. Men's National Team's fourth-straight 2-0 victory over Mexico in World Cup Qualifying at Crew Stadium on September 10 made Sports Illustrated's top 113 sports moments of 2013, coming in at number 65 on the list. Other soccer stories included in the magazine's year-end list include Raul Jimenez's bicycle-kick winner against Panama, Luis Suarez's biting of Branislav Ivanovic, Bayern Munich's UEFA Champions League title, the Snowclasico in Colorado between the U.S. and Costa Rica in 2014 World Cup Qualifying, Graham Zusi's late winner in Panama for the U.S. and Brazil's 3-0 rout of Spain in the Confederations Cup.

Crew Assistant Coach and former U.S. Men's National Team striker Josh Wolff recently joined ABC6's Clay Hall to talk about the United States' draw for the 2014 World Cup. While many are calling Group G the "Group of Death," Wolff shares his thoughts on how the Yanks can advance past Germany, Portugal and Ghana.

adidas revealed brazuca, its match ball for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, on Tuesday. "Brazuca" is a local in the country meaning "Brazilian."

From the official adidas press release, "Brazuca is a breakthrough innovation featuring a revolutionary six-panel design. Created for every player on the field, the ball features six identical panels alongside a unique surface that will provide improved grip, touch, stability and aerodynamics on the field. Brazuca has been thoroughly tested to meet and exceed all FIFA metrics for an official match ball, ensuring top performance for every condition."

U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team midfielder and Ohio native Wil Trapp talks about his early start with soccer, working his way into the Columbus Crew system and playing a significant role on Tab Ramos' U-20
squad in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Crew midfielder Wil Trapp wore the captain's armband and played 90 minutes in the United States' 1-1 draw with France in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Monday. After two matches, the U.S. is in third place in Group A of the tournament on one point. The U.S. has one match against Ghana remaining in group play on Thursday with a chance to advance to the knockout round.

Crew midfielder Wil Trapp and the United States will begin play in the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey on Friday against Spain (1:45 p.m. ET / ESPN2). The 20-year-old Gahanna native is coming off an impressive performance in the CONCACAF U-20 Championships back in March that saw him earn Best XI honors for the tournament. Trapp is likely to be an integral part of Head Coach Tab Ramos' plans in Turkey as the U.S. takes on Spain, France and Ghana in group play.

Following a 1-0 home victory against Honduras on Friday, Crew striker Jairo Arrieta and Costa Rica look to continue their form on Tuesday as they visit the Estadio Azteca for a road match with Mexico (8:00 p.m. ET / UniMas). Arrieta started and played 57 minutes in La Sele's 2014 World Cup Qualifier on Friday, registering one shot against Honduras. Head Coach Jorge Luís Pinto is expected to start either Arrieta once again in the attack or opt for Real Salt Lake forward Álvaro Saborío against Mexico Tuesday night as Costa Rica hopes to remain on top of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying table.